In mail production equipment, various activities take place for the purpose of producing mail pieces. Such activities include the selection of inserts, the collection and stacking of the selected inserts, the placing of the inserts into an envelope and the sealing of the envelope to form the mail piece. In order for the inserts to be stuffed into an envelope, the mouth of the envelope must be opened so as to be able to receive the inserts.
Devices that have been used previously, as a general rule, tend to have a relatively large number of moving parts for the stuffing operation. One of the more widely used ways of stuffing inserts into envelopes is to use a fingers that first open the mouth of an envelope that is being held stationary, and then assisting in the placing of inserts into the envelope. After insertion is complete, the fingers are removed from the mouth of the envelope and the stuffed envelope is carried away in an appropriate manner.
Although such devices worked well with production equipment that was of a large size, with the increasing demand for miniaturization and modular equipment, it has become evident that an envelope stuffing device that takes less space and has no moving parts for opening the mouth of an envelope would be desirable. Clearly, if moving parts are required to open the mouth of an envelope, a mechanism that would perform such a task requires space and results in a more expensive device.